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Traditionally, men and women had completely opposing roles, men were seen as the provider for the family and women were seen as the caretakers of both the home and the family. [103] However, in today's society the division of roles is starting to blur.
In the field of sociology, male privilege is seen as embedded in the structure of social institutions, as when men are often assigned authority over women in the workforce, and benefit from women's traditional caretaking role. [3] Privileges can be classified as either positive or negative, depending on how they affect the rest of society. [1]
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term patriarchy is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in feminist theory to describe a broader social structure in which men as a group dominate society. [1] [2] [3]
Preindustrial society relied on gendered roles in the workforce to create equilibrium between men and women. Men were assigned the hunter role while women were assigned the domestic roles. Men were expected to supply food and shelter for the family while women were the caretakers for the children and their household.
Social roles of men and women in relation to each other is based on the cultural norms of that society, which lead to the creation of gender systems. The gender system is the basis of social patterns in many societies, which include the separation of sexes, and the primacy of masculine norms.
Gender is used as a means of describing the distinction between the biological sex and socialized aspects of femininity and masculinity. [9] According to West and Zimmerman, gender is not a personal trait; it is "an emergent feature of social situations: both as an outcome of and a rationale for various social arrangements, and as a means of legitimating one of the most fundamental divisions ...
The largest group, 27% of men surveyed, said they were caring for a parent, while 13% were caring for a spouse, 9% for a grandparent, 5% for another relative, 3% for in-laws and 2% for a friend.
The most salient example of this approach in contemporary European and American society is the dominance of heterosexual men and the subordination of homosexual men. [ 1 ] [ 3 ] This was manifested in political and cultural exclusion, legal violence, street violence, and economic discrimination. [ 4 ]